Bandits put Shield hopes on the line; SPEEDWAY.

BERWICK Bandits will require some bright sunbeams to be shining on their racing efforts tonight at Shielfield Park (7pm), as vital league points are needed to ensure a place for the border club in the end-of-term Young Shield play-offs.

Last season, Berwick enjoyed a nailbiting run through this competition, reaching the final and coming very close to the Shield, only losing out to Workington on the last night of the season.

"The only team which can possibly overhaul us would be Glasgow - but they only have three matches left and can only reach a final total of 28 points, even if they win them all," explained Berwick coowner John Anderson.

"If we beat Stoke by seven or more race points tonight we move up to 29 points and will be safely into the Shield."

The visiting Potters will be headlined by the brilliant Lee Complin, a young man with an excellent scoring record at Berwick, with his main backing coming from five-time New Zealand champion Jason Bunyan - who hails from Milton Keynes but spends his winters in the Kiwi sunshine.

The F1 Bandits will deploy the riderreplacement system for Josef Franc, with each of his team-mates taking an extra race for the Czech, who is required to contest his national championship.

Tomorrow, the Newcastle Sapphire Engineering Diamonds are on a rare Sunday trip away from home as they head towards South Wales for a match at the Newport Wasps starting at 2.30pm.

They are expecting to be at full strength, with new boy Mark Lemon looking forward to the meeting more than most as he returns to his initial 2009 club.

Lemon was surprisingly axed by the Wasps earlier in the season but has played a big part in Newcastle's rise up the table and said: "The whole team have been so welcoming and approachable that it took me less than a week to get over what happened at Newport."

The return match is at the Newcastle Stadium in Byker on Monday at 7.30pm.

BERWICK "F1 FINANCE" BANDITS: 1 Michal Makovsky, 2 Tero Aarnio, 3 Paul Clews (captain), 4 Josef Franc - Rider replacement, 5 Stanislaw Burza, 6 Tamas Sike, 7 Guglielmo Franchetti.

STOKE POTTERS: 1 Jason Bunyan, 2 Tom P Madsen, 3 Klaus Jakobsen, 4 Lee Complin (captain), 5 Robert Ksiezak, 6 Craig Branney, 7 Jesper Kristiansen. NEWPORT WASPS: 1 David Howe, 2 James Holder, 3 Chris Kerr, 4 Jordan Frampton, 5 Paul Fry (captain), 6 Kyle Newman, 7 Jonas Andersson.

NEWCASTLE "SAPPHIRE ENGINEERING" DIAMONDS: 1 Kenni Larsen, 2 Derek Sneddon, 3 Jason King (captain), 4 Rene Bach, 5 Mark Lemon, 6 Adam McKinna, 7 Trent Leverington.

Workington Comets.......................59 Berwick Bandits............................35 DERWENT Park has frequently been a successful hunting ground for the Berwick Bandits, but last night it was far from a happy place to be after a 24-point defeat.

The event also placed Tero Aarnio back on the injury list following a clash with a member of his own side leaving Berwick dredging the options in time for tonight's match against Stoke at Shielfield Park.

The Comets romped to a big early lead, taking the heat winner in the first 10 races and making the Bandits look decidedly second-class citizens.

Michal Makovsky and Aarnio tangled alarmingly on the third ,with both Bandits smacking the deck heavily.

Makovsky soon got back to his feet but Aarnio was taken for precautionary examinations in hospital on potential internal bleeding and injury.

Makovsky won Berwick's first race then Paul Clews finished behind Mark Lemon in their only heat advantage at 3-5 but the Comets were lightyears ahead of them. WORKINGTON COMETS: Kevin Doolan (captain) 15, Lee Smart (guest) 4+2, Mark Lemon (guest) 12, Richard Lawson - Rider replacement, Andre Compton 10+2, John Branney 9, Craig Cook 9+2. BERWICK BANDITS: Michal Makovsky 12, Tero Aarnio 3+1, Paul Clews (Captain) 13, Stanislaw Burza 4+1, Josef Franc - Rider replacement, Tamas Sike 2, Guglielmo Franchetti 1+1.